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A Ukrainian pilot falsely accused by Russia of shooting down the MH17 airliner has reportedly taken his own life.

Capt Vladyslav Voloshyn, an SU-25 attack jet pilot, shot himself at home in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Monday, local media reported.

Voloshyn, 29, had been working at Mykolaiv airport since he retired from the airforce. He previously flew 33 combat missions in an SU-25 during the war between Ukrainian and Russian and separatist forces in Donbas in 2014.

Russian media and officials had accused him of shooting down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

The Boeing 777 was en route from Amterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, with the loss of all 298 people on board.

A Telegraph investigation backed claims the jet was shot down by a surface to air missile fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed separatistsCredit:
DIMITAR DILKOFF

A Dutch led investigation has concluded that MH17 was shot down by a surface to air missile fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists - a conclusion backed by an independent investigation carried out by the Telegraph.

The claims that Voloshyn downed the jet with his own aircraft was one of a number of alternative explanations put forward by the Kremlin and its sympathisers.

The accusations were taken up by Russia's Investigative Committee after Komsomolskaya Pravda, a pro-Kremlin tabloid, published an interview with a former Ukrainian airforce mechanic called Yevgeny Agapov who claimed Voloshyn had been on a mission when MH17 was downed and returned to base looking shaken.

An image from the final report into the investigation of the explosion on Boeing 777 flight MH17 Credit:
Dutch Safety Board/PA

He always denied the allegation, saying he was the victim of a smear campaign.

Ukrainian police said they are treating his death as suicide but that it was being investigated under the premeditated murder article of the country's criminal code.

Volshyn's wife said she called an ambulance after hearing gunshots at their home, but paramedics were unable to save him.

The Kremlin continues to publicly deny culpability for shooting down MH17, despite overwhelming evidence that the Buk missile used came from Russia.